PricewaterhouseCoopers’ U.S. chair and senior partner Tim Ryan is joining a group of New York City executives in calling for the Trump administration to allow a transition to the Biden administration to begin, as concerns increase among a group of CEOs polled by the Big Four firm over the growing spread of COVID-19 and the preparedness of the incoming administration to deal with vaccine distribution and other critical issues next year.
“It is something we’ve talked to a number of business executives about and there is a concern,” Ryan said during a conference call Monday with reporters. “In fact I just put my name on a letter that the Partnership for New York City will be issuing later today, and I believe many of the leaders will sign it. Given the fact that we’re sitting in the middle of a pandemic, with business disruptions and the need to revitalize the economy, we do think it is important that the administration acknowledge that Joe Biden is the president-elect and to be given the transition, just given the task ahead. It is something that’s on the minds of business executives quite a bit.”
Other signatures on the letter include those of BlackRock chair and CEO Larry Fink, Goldman Sachs chair and CEO David Solomon, and CIT Group chair and CEO Ellen Alemany, among the 164 executives who signed.
(On Monday evening, the General Services Administration said it would allow the transition to begin. President Trump tweeted that GSA administrator Emily Murphy and her team would be able to "do what needs to be done with regard to initial protocols" but he would continue to pursue his case in the courts. )
Executives are especially concerned about distribution of the COVID-19 vaccines that have been showing such promising test results in recent weeks.
PwC’s survey found that CFOs and other corporate leaders now cite fear of further shutdowns from a new wave of COVID-19 infections as their top concern (at 54 percent), even more than a global economic downturn (41 percent).
“Additionally 86 percent of U.S. executives also indicated that it’s important for their companies to have further economic relief from the incoming Biden administration,” said Roz Brooks, U.S. public policy leader at PwC.
Over 70 percent of the executives polled are now planning to proactively act on various matters in anticipation of Biden’s tax proposals, including modeling to quantify the impact (89 percent), engaging in tax planning (87 percent) and reconsidering investment plans (71 percent).
Rohit Kumar, co-leader of PwC's national tax office, believes the survey points to concern among executives about the corporate tax rate going up during a Biden administration. “That so many of those surveyed are reconsidering their current investment plans is a real yellow light to any elected official who might be favorably inclined to some of these proposals,” he said. “Put differently, this is not free money that can be collected without some real economic consequences.”
Corporate leaders indicated they are confident in their companies’ resilience and are optimistic about growth next year, even though they are wary of the pandemic and potential policy shifts in the incoming administration. The executives polled believe they're more agile and better positioned to adapt to future uncertainties, and said they’re least concerned about lack of demand (12 percent) and decrease in consumer confidence (14 percent).
Focus on the worker
Building on earlier efforts this year to support their employees, 93 percent of the executives polled plan to take further action to support their workforce, particularly around well-being and mental health support (72 percent). Most executives (88 percent) plan to proactively address the deepening political divide in the U.S. through various workplace culture initiatives, including diversity and inclusion training (53 percent), creating new opportunities for employees to discuss social issues (47 percent), and reviewing organizational culture with a focus on empathy and humility (34 percent). Approximately one-third (32 percent) of the corporate leaders polled said they’re more likely to make public statements on societal issues in the future as opposed to shying away from public discourse (11 percent).
“There continues to be a key focus on the worker,” said Ryan. “For those who have not stopped going to their place of work — whether it be manufacturing facilities, consumer packaged goods companies, utilities or bank tellers — there continues to be a huge focus on keeping them safe while they’re physically at work. Equally, for those who are not coming to work in order to maintain safety and deal with the pandemic, there’s also a huge focus on making that work experience as productive and effective as well. Then, for all groups of employees, there continues to be a major focus on issues like mental health, giving them the right technology tools, and there’s also a continued focus on making sure the workplaces stay connected and not get divided, notwithstanding a very divisive election that happened in this country. CEOs are very focused on making sure the workplace is united and not mirroring necessarily where the country had gone from an election standpoint.”
In the aftermath of the divisive election and in the midst of a global pandemic, corporate leaders are seeing the need to provide greater support for workers struggling to navigate the ongoing social, political and health crises of this year. “We need to take action on some of the most critical issues, and 72 percent mentioned that they want to focus on wellbeing and the mental health of their people,” said Bhushan Sethi, joint global leader of PwC's People & Organization practice. “The pandemic has gone on a lot longer, and we’ve gone through a very divisive election here in the U.S. We need to unite a divided workforce just like we need to unite the divided electorate in the country. There’s a real focus for business leaders on wellbeing and mental health.”
